MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Monday that it is interested in Cuba and the United States maintaining good relations, while insisting on its opposition to sanctions, referring to the United States’ former blockade over the Latin island.

“We are interested in Cuba, which is a friendly country to us, maintaining good relations with all its neighbors, primarily the United States,” Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told Russian media.

“In terms of international relations, you know that Moscow has many times and at various levels expressed criticism toward supporters of sanctions techniques, referring primarily to their ineffectiveness and futility,” Peskov reiterated.

“So, of course, we can only welcome the rejection of a sanctions policy in international affairs in general,” Peskov said regarding the visit to the island by U.S. President Barack Obama.

In recent years Russia has tried to restore the close political and economic cooperation it had with Havana during the Soviet Union era and in fact two years ago wrote off 90 percent of the debt owed by the island.